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Thursday, 1 August 2013

DICKSON HIGH KIDS LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS IN 1975

DICKSON HIGH KIDS LOST IN
THE

MOUNTAINS IN 1975

By
Louise Lyon

It
was March 1975, a time before personal computers or mobile phones. I was in Sixth Form, or Year 12, at
Dickson High School, now called Dickson College and we were all going on a
school excursion to Guthega for 5 days.

Our
year filled one large bus and a mini bus which travelled together in convoy. During
the entire trip those of us on the large bus enjoyed ridiculing those friends
on the mini bus and they ridiculed us in return. Their bus resembled the small buses
that were used by Koomarri, which was a place for the mentally and physically
challenged at that time. Chants of “Koomarri, Koomarri” continued and served to
annoy those on the mini bus. So the trip began, two buses full of young people oozing
with excitement and high spirits. On arrival at Guthega we were soon organised
into our chalets which were roomy with large central lounge areas and real fires
crackling in the hearths. It was late summer, so there was no snow, it was a
time to enjoy this new environment and study it.

Our
first work was an organised walking expedition which was meant to take about
half the day. The plan was to travel by
buses to Thredbo, then catch the chair lift up to the mountain range behind
Thredbo, and go on a half day walk. We had at least 4 teachers with us and we
all looked forward to the experience. The day was fine and sunny so wearing wet
weather gear we thought was unnecessary.

Soon
after alighting from the chair-lift and walking for half an hour or so, the
weather changed dramatically. We seemed to be engulfed by a misty fog, the
temperature dropped, the wind came up and it began to drizzle and sleet. We
thought the teachers knew the way, so we all confidently followed along behind
only to become increasingly wet, cold and miserable. There was no actual path
to follow, perhaps if there was the meadow grass had covered it over spring and
summer. Due to poor visibility we were glad the teachers brought a compass to
follow. One of the students at the front of the group held the compass, none of
us realising until too late that his large wristwatch interfered with the
magnetic field of the compass, sending us in completely the wrong direction.

The above photo is of us at a stage where we had the feeling we were lost but were not quite sure.

Our clothes were not waterproof and it didn’t
take long for us to realise things were going wrong. We were told to stop at
intervals while the teachers seemed to confer with each other in worried whispers
with much hand pointing. One teacher walked up onto a rocky outcrop to view our
surroundings which proved futile with the fog shrouding us. The wind and sleet were
coming at us sideways. Like penguins we clustered for warmth in groups of three
and four linking arms to trudge on. A few students were showing worrying signs,
one complained of severe cramps and others were slowing and lagging behind. One
of the girls had recently recovered from anorexia, and still being under weight,
we were very concerned for her as she was really feeling the cold and leaning
on her friends for support.

The
teachers called a halt when we noticed we had gone in a complete circle. We
followed the teachers down into a natural valley or hollow where the wind
wasn’t as strong, then they asked us to gather around closely. The senior
teacher announced “We are lost” which was no news to us. He then suggested as
it was now almost dusk, that we should try and sleep the night where we were
standing, in the slightly sheltered hollow. We had no camping equipment, no
food, in fact nothing except the wet clothes we were standing in. None of us
moved, while contemplating his words. Another teacher seemed to have a
discussion with the head teacher after which he announced we would make one
last attempt to find our way. Two students, Peter Tuckerman and Peter Colquhoun
and two teachers were to walk in four separate directions but they were not to
walk further than their line of sight to us. They were asked to look for
landmarks I presume.

This photo shows us when we were cold and miserable and waiting for the look-outs to find a way of ensuring we did not perish.

Unbelievably one of the four look-outs came across a lone
hiker. The hiker came over to us and spoke to the head teacher instructing us to
walk in a certain direction for another mile or so along a narrow track, then
we should see a line of snow poles and a blue metal road which we should follow
to Seaman’s Hut which would give us shelter.

By
this stage my lower back was cramping from the cold, I couldn’t feel my hands
or feet, my ears were burning, icy water dripped from my hair and squelched
from my shoes. It was foggy and grey, wet, windy, cold and miserable. We
continued slowly on, and finally reached Seaman’s Hut, a two roomed hut made to
shelter walkers at times like this.

I
found out later that the hut was built in 1929 with finance from the parents of
Laurie Seaman who died in a blizzard in 1928 close to the hut’s location. Laurie’s
mate also died in the blizzard. I’m sure the Seaman family took some solace
knowing the hut would save the lives of many over the years. The hut is fairly
close to the summit of Mt Kosciusko.

We
all stood shoulder to shoulder crowded tightly together in the little stone
hut, while one or two suffering early signs of hypothermia were attended to in
the other small room and placed in the beds there. One of my best friends kept
having to rush outside to vomit, another sure sign of exposure. Soon the warmth
from our bodies coupled with our wet clothing caused a new mist to rise all around
us in the hut. It was so foggy in there that it was difficult to see the person
beside you.

There
was no form of communication in the hut that we could use to call for help and
by now it was dark. Two students, Peter Colquhoun and Peter Tuckerman and a
teacher volunteered to walk down the road in front of the hut which was then
called Summit Road, now it is Summit Walk. They walked perhaps for a few miles,
to Charlotte’s Pass to the hotel to alert the authorities and get help. They
were our heroes that day as they did exactly that. Rangers in two Landrovers arrived
with their headlights beaming and shuttled us back and forth to Guthega,
beginning with those most affected by the cold. Two students were admitted to
hospital overnight. I remember we were met
at our chalet by Mrs Clarke, the home science teacher, who handed each of us on
arrival a steaming mug of minestrone soup. That soup is the most delicious soup
I have ever tasted to this day. Others I have spoken to since, agree.

Needless
to say due to this experience occurring in the first day or two of the planned
excursion week, very little was asked of us for the remainder of the week. In
fact we had absolutely no work given to us and we made it clear we were not
willing to do any as a group. We partied every night and the boys even stole
the male teachers’ beer from their room but remembered to leave a thank you
note and money. There were no repercussions. I clearly remember waiting in the sun on the last day for the buses to collect us
to take us back to Canberra. Standing
near me were all my friends, including Sharon Selley, who was very attractive
and curvaceous. As we chatted in groups, one of the teachers began to hold up
the lost property. The last item held up
was a very small cupped, tiny lacy bra. The teacher held it over his own chest and
exclaimed “Who owns this? ... There’s one thing I can say for sure, it sure isn’t
Sharon Selley’s!” There was much laughter sealing the end of a never to be
forgotten school excursion.FOR MANY MORE MAINLY CANBERRA-BASED YARNS HIT THE "HOME" BUTTON UP THE TOP.

About This Site

This site carries on from a previous site in which I sold a book entitled “Tales of a Canberra Boy,” which is out of print. I will however, allow readers to download it free of charge as I'm a great bloke and because the site is costing me nothing to run, and due to the kindness of a mate setting it up for me. To download it click on the appropriate button above & and when the cover appears click on the title of the book which is written in small writing below it. You can also download free of charge "A Rationalist's Guide to Life" using the same procedure. It is a rewrite of an earlier book I wrote which is also out of print. If you are prepared to commit to Rationalism you will get a lot out of it, otherwise it will bore you shitless. If you have an interest in the history of Canberra visit the site owned by a mate, Dave Reid, at http://www.davesact.com/ It gives an excellent overview of Canberra's history and provides interesting historical yarns. In regard to my background it is detailed in "Tales of a Canberra Boy."